Love What You Do

There’s a reason the average American adult goes though something like seven career changes throughout their lives.  That might not be the exact number, but it’s the idea that it’s a high number, not the actual number that matters.

Sure some 18 year old high schoolers are pretty sure of what they want to be when they grow up, and sometimes they’re right on the money.  But more often that not, it seems that it takes a little trial and error to find one’s true passion.

When I was in high school, if asked what I would do for a career, I often said teach.  What I wanted to teach changed a few times, but I saw the amazing impact a great teacher could have on the lives of their students.

So off I went to college to fulfill my dream and begin my quest of helping to shape the next generation.

I became a teacher.

And I loved it…..most of it.

I loved working with teenage kids every day. I loved interacting with them on a personal level. I loved seeing my students succeed at something that had been a struggle for much of their lives.

I felt like I was making a difference.

A good question to ask now however would be, if I loved teaching and was making a difference, why am I no longer a teacher?

Just as there is with every career, there was a lot that frustrated me as a teacher. Much of it was non-instruction related, but often weighed heavily on me. It was “the other stuff” that introduced doubt.

So, like I’m sure many others have, I researched other careers. I thought about what I had been interested in in the past. I looked at what each job would entail, and even what schooling would be required to make the change.

This is where I think a lot of people stop. Think about making a change, look into options and opportunities for change, but don’t act upon it.

What I think was probably different from other’s experiences with their own career doubt, was that I acted on it. I was fortunate to have a spouse that encouraged me to take the plunge if I felt it was really what I wanted to do.

Several things had to happen:

• I had to be not okay staying with a career in which I wasn’t 100% happy.
• I had to have enough interest in making a change to research alternatives.
• I had to have a support system that allowed and encountered me to follow my heart.
• I had to have faith that I would be making the right decision, and that each piece would fall into place in a way that made sense and was meant to be.

It worked for me. It was difficult, and both emotionally and financially taxing, but I made a major career change after thinking I was done with school. I went from teaching 8-12 grade math and science to working in the radiation oncology department of a large cancer center.

It may not work for everybody, but I can’t imagine having not tried.

We can’t be afraid of the unknown. Big change is possible.

And sometimes it’s downright necessary.

Make sure you love what you do.

Reminded Memories

  
Facebook has a feature that I haven’t used extensively, but may be the best feature they’ve introduced yet.  Quite frequently I receive a memory reminder; often a photo I shared X years ago. 

Since most of my shared pictures have been of family, either of our children or my wife and I pre-children, most of my memories are similar photos. 

Of course I have all of those same photos saved on my laptop, or even still on my phone, but I often neglect to look back through them. Isn’t that why we take photos in the first place? 

Facebook memories, for me, serve as a sort of memory timer set to 1, 2, 5, etc. years down the road. 

And what a fun surprise it is to be reminded that on this day last year a picture of my pregnant wife with our daughter, both holding their bellies, was taken and shared with the Facebook interwebs.   

I can’t help but be brought back to those thoughts and feelings.  I feel the anticipation all over again, the nervousness of the unknown. When will he/she come? Will it be a he or she?  What kind of big sister will Ellery be? 

The best part is then thinking through the answers to those questions. He abruptly announced his imminent arrival at 5:30am on the 26th of January. Of course he turned out to be a HE, to be named Henry after my late grandfather (there’s a whole other set of memories to go through). 

And the best answer may be the type of big sister Ellery has turned out to be. She loves him so much, and I’m so excited to see how they grow together.  What will she teach him? How will she protect him? What will they learn to do together? What trouble will they get into together? 

All this from an unexpected reminder of a photo that was shared a year ago and then forgotten. 

One photo, but so many memories. 

Facebook got this one right. 

Refresh

Sometimes we get so caught up in our lives, so overwhelmed with our everyday responsibilities, that we forget to take time for ourselves. 

It’s not hard to do, in fact it’s surprisingly easy. Kids, jobs, school, etc.; there is constantly something to keep us busy. 

It’s not that we’re neglectful. It’s not that we stop caring about ourselves, or our spouses. The fact is that our kids become our lives. We trade in the selfishness of our single days for the selflessness of parenthood. Our children become our first priority. 

But we’re important too. 

How many marriages are lost because time was simply not made for each other? 

Losing sight of each other is often so easy to do, but then again so is falling in love all over again. 

We need to take a break every so often; take a break from everything but each other. 

I fell in love all over again this weekend, but truthfully I never stopped loving her.

  After 13+ years together and 8 years of marriage, my love for this woman has never been stronger; and it grows every day. 

Change the Forest

As a new father (almost four years ago) I fell in love with reading to our little girl. Before she could even sit up on her own, her mother and I would read to her every night. Both of us found books that became our favorites, and we both had our own routine of specific books we would read and certain songs we would sing. 
One of my favorite books, and it remains to this day, is “Blessings Everywhere.”  It’s simple, God has given us so many blessings that everywhere we look a blessing can be found. “In the sky and on the ground, little blessings can be found.”  

  
Somehow as we get older, we lose the ability to see many of those blessings. 

Even if we remain strong in our faith and convictions, we are often blinded by so much of the negativity that surrounds us. We are forced to look through, past, or around the forest of negativity in order to find our blessings that it becomes unbearable, and our focus is forced onto the sadness and hurt of this world. 

But the good news is, this affliction is fixable; we don’t have to go through our lives blinded by despair. 

Negativity exists and will always exist, and we should acknowledge and address it. 

If, however, we notice, enjoy, and appreciate every blessing we can, then the blessing will start dominating our lives. 

So enjoy every sunset, enjoy every smile on the faces of your children, every laugh, every snuggle, every book and song at night. Make the time to enjoy these things. Even if only for a second; enjoy it. 

Acknowledge the bad, but savor the good. Pretty soon the good will become great. Pretty soon the negativity of life will become blocked and hidden by a new forest; the blessings that have always been there. 

  

#BlessingsEverywhere

Change the Forest

As a new father (almost four years ago) I fell in love with reading to our little girl. Before she could even sit up on her own, her mother and I would read to her every night. Both of us found books that became our favorites, and we both had our own routine of specific books we would read and certain songs we would sing. 
One of my favorite books, and it remains to this day, is “Blessings Everywhere.”  It’s simple, God has given us so many blessings that everywhere we look a blessing can be found. “In the sky and on the ground, little blessings can be found.”  

  
Somehow as we get older, we lose the ability to see many of those blessings. 

Even if we remain strong in our faith and convictions, we are often blinded by so much of the negativity that surrounds us. We are forced to look through, past, or around the forest of negativity in order to find our blessings that it becomes unbearable, and our focus is forced onto the sadness and hurt of this world. 

But the good news is, this affliction is fixable; we don’t have to go through our lives blinded by despair. 

Negativity exists and will always exist, and we should acknowledge and address it. 

If, however, we notice, enjoy, and appreciate every blessing we can, then the blessing will start dominating our lives. 

So enjoy every sunset, enjoy every smile on the faces of your children, every laugh, every snuggle, every book and song at night. Make the time to enjoy these things. Even if only for a second; enjoy it. 

Acknowledge the bad, but savor the good. Pretty soon the good will become great. Pretty soon the negativity of life will become blocked and hidden by a new forest; the blessings that have always been there. 

#BlessingsEverywhere

Happy in The 99%

There’s such a push these days to demonize those who have been successful. 

Those labeled the 1% have gained an immense amount of wealth; many earn in a single day what thousands of Americans will earn in a whole year. But are they greedy? Do they have more than they NEED or DESERVE? 

My take, for what it’s worth:

Bernie Sanders said in the Democratic debate that we are the worst in the world in income inequality, truth is we’re 42nd. The solution of those on the left to income inequality is to make the rich less rich, instead of the poor less poor; it’s to create more taxes, instead of more tax payers; it’s to expand dependency programs rather than decrease the number of dependents. 

We enjoy so many of the benefits brought to us by families classified as 1 percenters (think Vanderbilts, Rockefellers, Devos, VandAndels, Meijers, Waltons, etc.). Now they’re to be demonized for being so successful?  

Our constitution was designed to guarantee equality of opportunity, not equality of condition. Those in the 1% took advantage of their opportunities and created opportunities that weren’t there. 

The rest of us are not in the bottom 99% because the greed of others is holding us back. We’re there because we borrow more than we can afford, we spend more than we earn, we refuse to save for our own futures, instead expecting social security and other programs to fill in the gaps and keep us afloat. We spend more time looking for people and factors to blame, rather than for solutions to our problems and shortcoming, and opportunities to lift us to the next level. And we’re constantly reminded by our fearless leaders that it’s not our fault; we can’t be expected to succeed when there are so many at the top not paying their “fair share.” They owe us! They don’t deserve what they have, and if they won’t give it to us, we should take it from them! That’s an extreme interpretation of their position, but it’s not far from the truth.

I’m happy to be in the 99%. I’m happy I’ve had to earn what I have thus far. I’m grateful to have what I have and plan to one day EARN my way into the 1%. Dave Ramsey often says that we ought to “live like no one else, so that later we can live like no one else,” but the last line of that statement adds, “and give like no one else.”

Earn it! Join the 1%! Live and GIVE like no one else! 

Whatever it Takes

What human beings have in common is we all have our challenges and face adversity in our lives.  What sets some apart is how we deal with the adversity and attack those challenges.

I think the argument could be made that at times I’ve fallen on both sides of the proverbial fence.  There have been times that I’ve come up to a challenge and for whatever reason it seemed too insurmountable.  I have decided not to take on a challenge, or to succumb to adversity and otherwise give in.

However, there have certainly been circumstances, especially as I have grown and matured, where I have taken on a challenge with a “whatever it takes” mentality.

Fortunately for me, I have the most amazing support system surrounding and uplifting me, and encouraging me to attack every challenge; whatever it takes.

As the summer semester winds down, and before the fall semester begins, (for me the last semester of my masters program), I’ve taken the opportunity to look back and reflect on the last year.

When I accepted the position in this program, amidst all the uncertainty of how it would go and how Amber and I would work through it, it was very clear that it would be a big challenge for both of us.  In many ways the challenge has been greater for Amber and I can’t thank her enough for all she’s done and sacrificed for us.

The best part is that as we look forward to the fall, realizing that it will be my last semester and that the potential job market will be waiting come January, the rewards of all the sacrifices and overcome challenges are beginning to take focus.  That “some day when you graduate” is nearly upon us.

It’s not time to count our chickens before they hatch, but it is a great time to thank those who have helped us along the way and ask that they continue to help, and push us through the last leg of this journey.

 

Monday Morning Message – The Difference Between Winning and Succeeding

The following video may have been my favorite Monday message of all time.  John Wooden coached college basketball at UCLA and had the privilege of developing many young players who went on to successful NBA careers.  He was affectionately known simply as coach, and certainly has the resume to backup claims that he may have been the best coach of any sport, ever.  He won more games than any coach before him or since.

What astounds me in the film, is when he states that winning wasn’t talked about in his locker room.  The game of basketball at the collegiate level was never about winning to him.  In fact, he made it a point to ensure that every one of his players put their education well before the game of basketball.  His devotion to developing outstanding young men, and not simply a group of winners was made very clear when he denied his star player admission to the team bus for breaking his strict dress code.  The curious thing is, that without fueling the desire to create a championship atmosphere, he won a bunch of championships.

Coach Wooden created an environment of responsibility, respect, and good character that I think is very much missing in athletics at every level and in our society as a whole.  The video is a great reminder of what it means to have good character, and to be successful.  I encourage everyone to watch the entire clip, enjoy!

#Blessed

Happy new year!

Have we made our resolutions yet? Have we broken our resolutions yet?

I saw a Twitter post that asked about making goals for 2013; goals, not resolutions. That’s an interesting way to think about greeting the new year.

Resolutions are simple to make, and easy to break or forget altogether. The also tend to be difficult to measure. “Read more.” “Judge others less.” “Get more sleep.” “Study more.”

@Dave Ramsey (via Twitter): “Goals that work are: 1)Specific 2)Measurable 3)Have a Time Limit 4) Yours (not imposed) 5) IN WRITING”

Don’t make A resolution, set GOALS for yourself. Then, most importantly, check up on yourself and keep yourself accountable. (If you follow Dave’s rule #5 above and keep your list visible, it’s easy to regularly measure your success).

Now to follow my own advice, I’m going to make a new year’s GOAL. To do my best to think and act more positively. While surrounded with negative news about the fiscal cliff, national disasters, and so many other daily news headlines, it’s very difficult to find the positive stories and ideas.

That sounds more like a resolution, so I’ll be more specific.

It is my goal to post a positive tweet about the many blessings I am fortunate to have in my life every day. I have started already and have used the hashtag #Blessed to keep track of those posts. Taking the time to think about what to tweet has already shown me that I have more blessings than I could possibly share. This also affords me an opportunity to share with others how much they mean to me and how grateful I am to have them in my life.

It is my hope that following this specific goal will help make me a more positive person, and spread that positivity into all aspects of my life. Also, I hope to be encouraged to avoid, ignore, or quickly forget about the negativity we’re surrounded by, especially that which I have no control over.

The last benefit I hope my positive tweets have is to encourage others to do the same. Find the positive blessings you have in your own life and feel free to share them with those that matter in your life. Let’s share so many blessings that the hashtag #Blessed becomes a popular “trend” on Twitter.

Of course you could also text your loved ones, email, Facebook, call, or send a letter if your still remember how. Just make sure that those who are blessings in your life know it. Thank them and cherish them.

Happy new year

#Blessed

Monday Morning Message – 100% Focused on Today

I don’t pretend to be very inspirational, but I love to be inspired.  I love watching a video clip, or reading an article that gives me chills and begs to question, “how can I have that attitude?” “how can I get that resolve?” how can I have a similar impact on others?”

In high school I had a teacher that read an inspirational or funny message every Monday.  It was one thing I always remembered and I tried to do the same thing in my own classroom.  I have come across some great videos and stories during my searches for “Monday Morning Messages.”

Below is one of my favorites:

Randy Pausch was certainly an inspiration.  He was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and when he found out he was dying of cancer he gave what he called his, “Last Lecture.”  The entire lecture can be found on Youtube and is well worth watching.  He gave an entire lecture about what it meant to strive for your childhood dreams.  He outlines how he prioritized and attained his many dreams.  The most important part to me was how he was forced to alter his dream because the simplest, “I want to be an astronaut” would never have been attainable.  Therefore he decided he would be thrilled with, “I want to experience zero gravity.”  He understood that our dreams may not end up exactly how we first envision them, but that doesn’t mean abandoning them altogether.